By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant Last week, we concluded the reading of the Book of Leviticus with the reading of parsha Bechukotai. This week, we begin the Book of Numbers with plans to dismantle the Tabernacle and to rebuild it further into the wilderness. In the second year of the Exodus, God spoke to […]
Posts with the Numbers tag
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: MATOT-MASSEI (NUMBERS 30:2-36:13)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant This week, we read a double parshiot, Matot-Massei, which comprises the finale of the Book of Numbers. The contents of these parshiot are remarkable for the discontinuity of the narrative, the paradoxical elements of God’s commandments, and incoherent directives and laws. The first of the parshiot, Matot, begins […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: PINCHAS (NUMBERS 25:10-30:1)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant Last week’s Torah parsha, Balak, was fanciful, surreal and ended in tragedy when thousands of Israelites lost their lives as a consequence of being lured into illicit relations with the Moabite women. Parsha Pinchas transitions to more serious themes, which include not just a diverse set of narratives, but […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: BALAK (NUMBERS 22:2-25:9)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant Parsha Balak begins with the Israelites continuing their journey to Canaan. They have already defeated their enemies in many nations and have settled their next encampment on the border of Moab. Based on the victories the Israelites had achieved in other nations, Balak, the King of Moab was […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: CHUKAT (NUMBERS 19:1-22:1)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant In an almost imperceptible yet seismic shift, this week’s Torah parsha, Chukat, jumps several decades ahead in the journey of the Israelites and its narrative reads like a riddle inside of a riddle. The parsha begins: “This is the statute of the Torah which the Lord commanded…”(1) and […]